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Improving Clinical Data Quality to Strengthen Patient Care Summaries and Outcomes 

Clinical data is a crucial asset in modern healthcare. From electronic health records (EHRs) captured during routine check-ups to the real-time monitoring of chronic conditions, the healthcare system generates a vast and complex repository of information every day. This data holds the potential to revolutionize patient care by providing healthcare providers with the insights they need to make informed decisions and deliver personalized treatment plans. 

However, the true power of this data can only be unlocked when it is accurate, complete, and presented in a way that allows healthcare professionals to take practical steps or make informed decisions based on it. This is where healthcare faces one of its most significant challenges: achieving meaningful interoperability. As healthcare organizations seek to integrate data from multiple sources, the issues of data quality, consistency, and accessibility become increasingly apparent. Addressing these challenges is essential to realizing the promise of data-driven healthcare. 

The Interoperability Challenge: Navigating Clinical Data Complexity 

Healthcare’s clinical data dilemma is rooted in its complexity. Information is dispersed across numerous systems and departments, each with its own standards and formats. Variations in coding practices, documentation errors, and duplicate entries further complicate the integration of clinical data into a cohesive whole. This fragmentation not only hampers the efficiency of healthcare operations but also obscures critical insights that could improve patient outcomes. 

The chart below outlines four barriers to data usability:

At Availity, our clinical informatics team conducts data quality analyses as part of our deployments, including annual real-world data audits. We routinely find that upwards of 50% of source clinical data cannot be used in its raw native form because of its incompleteness, lack of interpretability or absence of medical concepts. That’s why we believe that an industry commitment to not only data interoperability standards but also applying technology to fix data quality will always be required to ascertain the safety and efficacy of healthcare delivery. 

Applying an Automated Data Transformation Engine to Improve Clinical Data Quality  

For healthcare providers, the consequences of poor data quality are profound. Inaccurate or incomplete information can lead to misdiagnoses, inappropriate treatments, and missed opportunities to close care gaps. Moreover, the time and effort required to manually reconcile disparate data sources can burden healthcare teams, diverting resources away from patient care. To tackle these challenges, healthcare organizations need to implement advanced interoperability solutions that go beyond merely connecting disparate data sources. They must also transform and enrich clinical data to ensure its meaningful use.  

Our latest case study reveals how a leading data interoperability organization, renowned for delivering concise, one-page patient summaries for primary and virtual specialty care providers, joined forces with Availity. By leveraging Availity Fusion™, an advanced automated data transformation engine, the organization achieved remarkable improvements in clinical data quality. Dive into the case study to see how this partnership enabled the creation of streamlined patient summaries, offering providers access to recent medical updates and customized clinical content, ultimately enhancing care management. To read the full case study, click here.  

About the Author

Praveer Mathur is an accomplished leader with over 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry, encompassing biomedical research, clinical workflow application development, data interoperability, and advanced analytics. He holds a Master of Science from the University of Connecticut and a Certificate in Leadership Strategies for IT in Healthcare from Harvard University.

Praveer’s vision in healthcare centers on minimizing costs, improving outcomes, and streamlining experiences. He is dedicated to achieving these goals through process simplification and technological innovation, ensuring that healthcare is more accessible and efficient for all stakeholders.

Praveer Mathur 

Director of Product, Connectivity & Interoperability at Availity